August 10 – Fifty years ago today. Allen in London, writing to his beloved, Peter (Orlovsky) in New York City, warning him, pleading with him, about amphetamines (“meth”) – “I’d rather be with you than without you. Stop meth, cool everything, come over here”

Dear Peter,

Irving (Rosenthal) wrote and Barbara (Rubin) wrote, said you were on meth, then, thinking house was afire, window moldings bugged or electrified, etc, and had begun taking them out . I don’t know how far you are into that thought process, but I am worried about the house, my manuscripts, etc. I can’t … Read More

[top image – Allen Ginsberg and Barbara Rubin together at the Albert Monument, outside the Royal Albert Hall, London, May 1965, on the occasion of the First International Poetry Incarnation – bottom image – Barbara Rubin filming in the streets of London – May 1965 – photo by Allen Ginsberg c. The Estate of Allen Ginsberg]

Happened to catch these on Gary Parrish’s excellent Farfalla Press blog. Peter’s “Good F*ck with Denise” has enough expletives in it that no doubt You Tube will yank it soon, so catch it while you can! [2012 update – miraculously, it’s still up!] – Julius Orlovsky is represented by just a short clip from Robert Frank’s remarkable Me and My Brother, (available in its entirety through Steidl – We highly recommend tracking that down!) [2012 update – that clip however has been pulled]. The third and final clip is raw footage from 1966 of the Velvet Underground